It was only in September, 1851, that a
blacksmith at Buningong, named Hiscocks, who had long been searching
for gold, traced a mountain-torrent back into the hills towards the
north, and came upon the rich lode which soon became known as the
"Ballarat Diggings." When the rumour of the discovery got abroad,
there was a great rush of people to the place, accompanied by the
usual disorders; but they gradually settled down, and Ballarat was
founded. The whole soil of the place was found to contain more or less
gold. It was gathered in the ranges, on the flats, in the
water-courses, and especially in the small veins of blue clay, lying
almost above the so-called "pipeclay." The gold was to all appearance
quite pure, and was found in rolled or water-course irregular lumps of
various sizes, from a quarter or half an ounce in weight, sometimes
incorporated with round pebbles of quartz, which appeared to have
formed the original matrix.

The digging was at first for the most part alluvial, but when skilled
miners arrived from England, operations were begun on a much larger
scale, until now it is conducted upon a regular system, by means of
costly machinery and highly-organised labour. To give an idea of the
extensive character of the operations, I may mention that one company,
the Band of Hope, has erected machinery of the value of 70,000_l._ The
main shaft, from which the various workings branch out, is 420 feet
deep; and 350 men are employed in and about the mine. It may also be
mentioned that the deeper the workings have gone, the richer has been
the yield of gold. This one company has, in a comparatively short
time, raised gold worth over half a million sterling; the quantity
produced by the Ballarat mines, since the discovery of gold in
September, 1851, to the end of 1866, having been worth about one
hundred and thirty millions sterling.

The morning after my arrival in Ballarat I proceeded to survey the
town, I was certainly surprised at the fine streets, the large
buildings, and the number of people walking along the broad pathways.
Perhaps my surprise was magnified by the circumstance that nearly
fifteen months had passed since I had been in a large town; and, after
Majorca, Ballarat seemed to me like a capital. After wandering about
the streets for half an hour, I looked into the Court-house, where an
uninteresting case of drunkenness was being heard. I next went into
the adjoining large building, which I found to be